NORFOLK, Va. — UPDATE: Booker T. Washington High School was evacuated Thursday morning after a chemical emergency inside the building.
The emergency stemmed from a small chemical spill and reaction in a storage room, according to Norfolk Public Schools.
Fire officials on scene noted they received reports of "explosion" like sounds after the reaction, which hazmat crews cleared hours afterward.
Crews with Norfolk Fire & Rescue worked to identify and mitigate which chemicals affected the school. For hours, hundreds of students and staff were forced to evacuate the building onto the school's football stadium.
Medics took at least one person to a hospital, whom officials later confirmed is a teacher suffering "minor injuries."
Before hazmat crews gave the "all clear", many of the evacuated students were picked up early by their parents and guardians around noon.
"High schoolers don’t want to stay in school anyway," Sandy Smith laughed, a grandparent told 13News Now picking up her grandson.
The spill hospitalized one teacher with what school officials described as "minor injuries."
